The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal by Idries Shah

Author: Idries Shah
Genre: Children’s Book (3-8)
Illustrator: Rose Mary Santiago
Translator: Rasha Al-Aqeedi
Publisher: Hoopoe Books
Released: September 2015
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle
Pages: 38
Source: I was gifted a soft copy from Hoopoe Books to review for the #ReadYourWorld Multicultural Children’s Book Day event.
Rating: 3.5/5
 

When a boy visits another village, he is surprised to find the townspeople terrified of something that—just because they have not seen it before—they mistake for a terrible, dangerous animal. With his own knowledge and by demonstration, the boy helps them overcome their fears.

This story is part of an oral tradition from the Middle East and Central Asia that is more than a thousand years old. In an entertaining way, it introduces children to an interesting aspect of human behavior and so enables them to recognize it in their daily life.

One of many tales from the body of Sufi literature collected by Idries Shah, the tale is presented here as part of his series of books for young readers.

“ذهب الى أحد الرجال و سأله “لم تندبون جميعا؟ ممّ تخا تخافون كلّ هذا الخوف؟
He went up to one of the men and said, “Why are you saying ‘Oooo’ and ‘Ahhh’ and ‘Ohhh,’ and why are you all so frightened?”
– The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal, Idries Shah
 
The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal is an innocent story laced with humor. The Sufi folklore imparts the concept of learning and growing through bravery by overcoming fear of the unknown. What one village saw as a terrible, dangerous animal, was in reality nothing more than a large, delicious watermelon.
 
How does this boy help the people overcome their fear? What do they learn? An how do they grow from this learning experience? These are questions that the story answers in a beautifully innocent manner.
 
The English translation seems to have extra wordings, probably to captivate and engage the readers. Moreover, the language of Arabic has a miraculous beauty to it in that sometimes the foreign language may not capture the essence of certain phrases and words.
 
Point to note:
Books by Idries Shah are translated into many languages, English being one of them. Although the author followed the path of Sufism, and many of his other books include concepts such as witchcraft and magic, this particular book, The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal does not contain any such concepts that goes against the authentic Islamic teachings.
 
That said, I would tread carefully while choosing and selecting bilingual stories by Idries Shah to read to our children. Alhamdulillah, there are a wide range of Arabic-English options these days, especially in the Middle East, to read to our children.
 
I was not aware of Sufi folklore stories for children prior to MCBD2021. Thank you MCBD organizers and Hoopoe Books for giving me the opportunity to review this book.
 
Readers, have you read Sufi folklore books? If so, what do you think about them? I’d love to know your thoughts.
 

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021 (1/29/21) is in its 8th year! This non-profit children’s literacy initiative was founded by Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen; two diverse book-loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on all of the multicultural books and authors on the market while also working to get those book into the hands of young readers and educators.

Eight years in, MCBD’s mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves continues. Read about our Mission & History HERE.

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FOUNDER’S CIRCLE: Mia Wenjen (Prgamaticmom) and Valarie Budayr’s (Audreypress.com)

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Bronze Sponsors: Agatha Rodi and AMELIE is IMPRESSED!, Barnes Brothers Books, Create and Educate Solutions, LLC, Dreambuilt Books, Dyesha and Triesha McCants/McCants Squared, Redfin Real Estate, Snowflake Stories, Star Bright Books, TimTimTom Bilingual Personalized Books, Author Vivian Kirkfield, Wisdom Tales Press, My Well Read Child 

MCBD 2021 is honored to be Supported by these Author Sponsors!

Poster Artist: Nat Iwata

Authors: Author Afsaneh Moradian, Author Alva Sachs & Three Wishes Publishing Company, Author Angeliki Stamatopoulou-Pedersen, Author Anna Olswanger, Author Casey Bell , Author Claudine Norden, Author Debbie Dadey, Author Diana Huang & IntrepidsAuthor Eugenia Chu & Brandon goes to Beijing, Green Kids Club,  Author Gwen Jackson, Author Janet Balletta, Author Josh Funk, Author Julia Inserro, Karter Johnson & Popcorn and Books, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw & The Last Cherry Blossom, Author Keila Dawson, Maya/Neel Adventures with Culture Groove, Author Mia Wenjen, Michael Genhart, Nancy Tupper Ling, Author Natalie Murray, Natalie McDonald-Perkins, Author Natasha Yim, Author Phe Lang and Me On The Page Publishing, Sandra Elaine Scott, Author Shoumi Sen & From The Toddler Diaries, SISSY GOES TINY by Rebecca Flansburg and B.A. Norrgard, Susan Schaefer Bernardo & Illustrator Courtenay FletcherTales of the Five Enchanted Mermaids, Author Theresa Mackiewicz, Tonya Duncan and the Sophie Washington Book Series, Author Toshia Stelivan, Valerie Williams-Sanchez & The Cocoa Kids Collection Books©, Author Vanessa Womack, MBA, Author Veronica Appleton & the Journey to Appleville book series

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FREE RESOURCES from Multicultural Children’s Book Day

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Join us on Friday, Jan 29, 2021, at 9 pm EST for the 8th annual Multicultural Children’s Book Day Twitter Party!

This epically fun and fast-paced hour includes multicultural book discussions, addressing timely issues, diverse book recommendations, & reading ideas.

We will be giving away an 8-Book Bundle every 5 minutes plus Bonus Prizes as well! *** US and Global participants welcome. **

Follow the hashtag #ReadYourWorld to join the conversation, connect with like-minded parts, authors, publishers, educators, organizations, and librarians. See you all very soon on Twitter!

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